1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, a control method therefor, and a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for implementing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, facsimile functions of communication apparatuses provided for the public switched telephone network (PSTN) carry out communications using audio data according to ITU-T Recommendation T.30 (hereafter referred to as T.30), and the functions have been realized using modems for analog lines. In general, the communication apparatuses output, as a tone, a signal output from the modems or a signal received from the public switched telephone network so as to notify a user that a facsimile communication is started or underway.
On the other hand, in recent years, there have been developed communication apparatuses which are capable of carrying out facsimile communications over an IP network. The IP network ready communication apparatuses send and receive facsimiles according to ITU-T Recommendation T.38 (hereafter referred to as T.38) when a party at the other end supports T.38.
When the party at the other end does not support T.38, T.30 audio data is sent and received as deemed audio data packets over an IP network (VoIP: Voice over IP), and facsimiles are sent and received over the public switched telephone network by way of a VoIP gateway from the IP network (T.30) (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-94024).
A facsimile apparatus described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-94024 handles digital image data complying with T.38 when a party at the other end supports sending and receiving over an IP network (T.38).
On the other hand, when the party at the other end supports only sending and receiving over the public switched telephone network (PSTN), communications are carried out using VoIP, and hence at the time of sending, audio data is generated from image data obtained by scanning, and G.711 PCM data is generated from the audio data.
At the time of receipt, audio data is generated from the G.711 PCM data to generate image data for printing.
According to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-94024, a G.711 block is used for data conversion, but there has also been developed a technique that a modem which carries out communications using T.30 is equipped with a G.711 data conversion function.
When a communication apparatus supporting both T.38 and T.30 carries out a communication with an apparatus at the other end using T.30 (VoIP), data conversion is performed in the following order: digital image data→audio data→G.711 data, or G.711 data→audio data→digital image data.
On this occasion, extracting analog signals from a modem and outputting them to a speaker enable a user to hear communication tones.
However, when a communication with an apparatus at the other end is carried out using T.38, no audio data is produced because data handled in the communication is digital data, and hence a user hears no communication tones.
In order to enable a user to hear communication tones when a communication with an apparatus at the other end is carried out using T.38, a communication apparatus may be equipped with an additional audio output circuit that outputs voice, but this requires cost for adding the circuit.
Therefore, even when a communication with an apparatus at the other end is carried out using T.38, a mechanism that outputs tones using a modem for use in T.30 communications is required.
Moreover, in communications other than T.38 communications, it is desirable to output tones using a modem when providing notification to a user by tones.